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I'm taking the Tacoma for an oil change this afternoon. I forgot all about it during the week. The Valvoline express place in a town about 40 miles away is open today, strangely. So I'll run over there and get it done. Then I'll do a load or two of laundry, and pack up to head back to Colorado for work. Lordy, I hope it's the last time I have to do that, and I can get back to the Midwest. Colorado is way too far and way too expensive for me...
 
Today is "fix the Traeger grill" day. It's not coming up to temperature as it should. A bit of online research shows that this can be caused by excess pellet dust and chips in the feeder. So I'll try to empty out all the pellets and use the Shop Vac to clean out the feed tube if I can get it in there. Then I'll re-prime the tube and see what happens at tonights grilling. I also have a propane grill, a cast iron skillet for the stove, and an air fryer so I have plenty of alternate ways to cook up the steaks if the Traeger still won't cooperate after cleaning.

While I'm into the greasy grill work, I'll also measure the inner components of the propane grill. That thing should really benefit from a new set of burners and what they call "flavorizer bars". Also a set of replacement knobs. Of the three original main burner knobs, only one survives intact and I'm getting tired of having to move it around to different burners to adjust the flames. Of course the side burner - which we never use - works perfectly and its knob is intact. I guess I can't complain too much - that propane grill must be about 25 years old. I've determined it is a Weber Genesis Silver C model. It's lasted pretty good despite it's current semi-dilapidated condition. I replaced the grates a few years ago.
 
Chillin' like a villain, maybe doing some bathroom decoration later... maybe not, lol. I feel like partying on this holiday weekend, don'tcha know? Of course, this is why the bathroom renovation project is taking so long, lol. Hey, guess what? Those fools who sent me the expensive weed seeds which did NOT pan out, they actually sent some replacements for the 'Purple African Magic' feminized seeds, so maybe I'll have some of that strain after all... guess they felt guilty when I told 'em their products were cr@ppy, lol. Meh, we'll see if these work, the last ones didn't do so hot. :confused:

Otherwise, I'm just gonna kick back here at the ol' hacienda today... might still work on those bathrooms, I dunno. 🤔
 
Animal chores done, all the rabbit cages cleaned. I took some tomato powder I did out of the freeze dryer. I had large cans of fire roasted whole tomatoes about to expire, so I put them in the blender and then freeze dried. Turned out well. Need to do some garden work this afternoon.
 
Got the front and back yards and area around chicken coop mowed. Bad night and I barely slept so I'm very tired and foggy today. Think I'll save coop work for tomorrow. Need to make myself eat something and I'm gonna rest. Do the usual critter chores this evening. See if anything in the garden needs picking.
 
Haertig said:
Today is "fix the Traeger grill" day. It's not coming up to temperature as it should. A bit of online research shows that this can be caused by excess pellet dust and chips in the feeder. So I'll try to empty out all the pellets and use the Shop Vac to clean out the feed tube if I can get it in there. Then I'll re-prime the tube and see what happens at tonights grilling.
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Found the issue and got the Traeger going again. The pellet hopper necks down into about a 3"x3" funnel that drops the pellets into the horizontal feed tube that has an auger inside it. The bottom of that funnel was almost a solid clog of pellet dust that was caked together due to moisture (we've had tons of rain recently). The pellets couldn't hardly get through. Got it cleaned out. The pellets that I had to remove from the hopper, I "filtered" through a vegetable cooking tray that I sometimes use on the grill. Think a 2'x3' sheet of metal with a bunch of 1/4" holes drilled in it. With this setup I was able to shake all the accumulated pellet dust out of the mix. Then I put the cleaned pellets back into the hopper.

Note that the Traegar comes with a grate that goes over the end of the funnel. As protection to keep your fingers out of the feed tube auger. I never installed that when I initially built the grill. That was an obvious clogging point in my mind. And the auger only turns at about 1 rpm, if that, so you'd have to be a pretty big klutz to get your fingers stuck in that. And you have to really TRY to get your fingers down to the auger, even without the protective grate. I imagine I would have had many clogs before now had I installed that grate. I'm sure that corporate lawyers mandated that grate, but at least it was a separate part that one could forget to install if they so desired. Like me.

From now on, I'm only going to fill that hopper 1/3 to 1/2 full so I can see to keep track of things better. You can stir the pellets to one side and look down to see the neck of the funnel if the hopper is only half full. Also, I'll go buy me a strainer or colander and make a routine part of filling the hopper a pre-shake of the pellets through this colander to rid them of any dust. I have always used good quality pellets and I will continue doing that. Cheap ones can disintegrate. Even the good ones can make dust over time, and that's what I had to deal with today. I use either the Traeger brand of pellets or the Costco brand. Both seem of equivalent quality to me. The Costco ones are of course significantly cheaper.
 
Daughter is coming back at 5:30 when she gets done with her McDonald's shift. I'm gonna make a double batch of hamburger helper and put all the leftovers into big zip lock bags, and take it to Colorado with me. My hotel out there is an extended stay hotel with a kitchenette and utensils so I can cook while I'm there, too. I should eat well.

Right now, I've got 3 loads of laundry going at the laundromat and I'm just setting here dreading the 14 hour drive tomorrow. That'll be a cool $150 in gas. Then I'll have to be up at 2am for a 3am job briefing. I hope the boss doesn't expect much from me on Tuesday because I'm not going to have much to give...
 
Woke up exhausted, still exhausted now. I waaay over did it yesterday. At least 4 days to recover, maybe 5. It was a 2hr drive to Pine mtn on roads I haven’t driven in many years. The last 30min were a royal pain, a series of mtn ridges. All roads on the tops were mtn something. All the roads down below were valley something. Only drove 10miles out of my way. Missed one of the dozen roads that had ridge in the name.

I met another picker from tuskaloosa. He’s real good, been playing banjo and guitar since the 90’s. He and I know the same people, just never met. I think he’s a late starting prepper (avid hunter/fisherman). He hunts mushrooms too, chanterelles mostly. Been trying to learn foraging from a poor excuse for a book. Wants to come out to the farm and learn some plants.

I left the mtn early, 1.5hrs before the festivities were over. I was too exhausted to play and it was getting late, took the long way home on roads I knew. Got supper in tuskaloosa, gyro from the Lebanese place. Hadn’t had one in a while.

Nothing but rest on today's schedule, same for tomorrow. Another pic from the mtn, inside the old school room. I met the dobro player at the folk school a few weeks ago, a cabinet maker. He and his wife want to come learn some plants also. The guy with the guitar is the beginning prepper, has a style of play I like. Funny, his boss is a classmate of mine, thru 12yrs of grade school. How did I not meet the guy before this?

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I got an email a coupe weeks ago from the state park department. There was a new campground built at a state park we had never been to. Drove up there today to check it out. Turns out there was 2 campground, one was old, run down, and the spots were tiny. The newer one was nicer, much nicer, but still not very good campground compared to others we go to.
Had a great trip though.
 
Peanut said:
Woke up exhausted, still exhausted now. I waaay over did it yesterday. At least 4 days to recover, maybe 5. It was a 2hr drive to Pine mtn on roads I haven’t driven in many years. The last 30min were a royal pain, a series of mtn ridges. All roads on the tops were mtn something. All the roads down below were valley something. Only drove 10miles out of my way. Missed one of the dozen roads that had ridge in the name.

I met another picker from tuskaloosa. He’s real good, been playing banjo and guitar since the 90’s. He and I know the same people, just never met. I think he’s a late starting prepper (avid hunter/fisherman). He hunts mushrooms too, chanterelles mostly. Been trying to learn foraging from a poor excuse for a book. Wants to come out to the farm and learn some plants.

I left the mtn early, 1.5hrs before the festivities were over. I was too exhausted to play and it was getting late, took the long way home on roads I knew. Got supper in tuskaloosa, gyro from the Lebanese place. Hadn’t had one in a while.

Nothing but rest on today's schedule, same for tomorrow. Another pic from the mtn, inside the old school room. I met the dobro player at the folk school a few weeks ago, a cabinet maker. He and his wife want to come learn some plants also. The guy with the guitar is the beginning prepper, has a style of play I like. Funny, his boss is a classmate of mine, thru 12yrs of grade school. How did I not meet the guy before this?

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Glad you went! Sorry for your CFS! Awesome pics, hope you can go again!♥️
 
Bacpacker said:
I got an email a coupe weeks ago from the state park department. There was a new campground built at a state park we had never been to. Drove up there today to check it out. Turns out there was 2 campground, one was old, run down, and the spots were tiny. The newer one was nicer, much nicer, but still not very good campground compared to others we go to.
Had a great trip though.
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Sooo🤔 you brought the wife home?? Right?? Wasn't one of those, "dropped the ladies off" kinda thing??
 
backlash said:
We had breakfast/lunch with @Cascadian and his wife.
It's fun meeting people you only know through this board.
We had a good time.
If my wife and I start traveling around the country I'll try meeting more of you folks.
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Thats great! Hope you and the wife get to make a trip or two. You're certainly welcome down south, especially old salts!
 
Had to pop a opossum tonight. I don't like killing them because they eat bugs and such and he was just minding his own business but he was too close to the house for my liking. They carry diseases and it was too close to the horse water, feed area in the garage, chickens and the dogs for me to risk letting him live. I still wasn't happy that he had to go. Think he's been up here the last few nights because the dogs have been alert and pissy.
 
I picked up my friend and got him food. We discussed a plan of action and got the surround glued up. My hand cramped trying to use the caulk gun so he took over and he got that thing tight against the wall. I took him back home, hung out for awhile and then went to get gas and then to TSC to get some feed for the cows.

I was trying to post updates on forums and literally fell asleep at my keyboard.

Tomorrow (well, later today) I'm making templates for the trim board and figuring out the angles for the miter cuts and so forth. Friend isn't available.
 
After I finish my morning cup of coffee, I plan on taking a walk around my property today. My wife and I are going to feed our chickens and goats, and then I'll check on the plants. We've had a lot of rain recently, and there have been a lot of dogs in the area, so I want to make sure everything is okay. Later on, we're going to attend the local Memorial Day parade, which I'm really looking forward to. After that, we'll probably grab dinner and catch a movie. It should be a great day!
 
Worked for a while this morning to make up for time I took off on Wednesday. Been very busy trying to catch up on yard chores and getting the garden planted over the weekend. Have to run to town for some weedblock so I can finish up the outside stuff, then figure out what I'm going to do with the planters for in the greenhouse.
Actually made $25 so far with the plants out front.
Headed to my brother's place to help him with some chores for the afternoon.
 
sonya123 said:
Speeding: LOL you guys are speed demons! I hated driving on the Autobahn in Germany without limits. I think I went 100 mph there once in a rented Audi and it scared the crap out of me....husband didn't want to drive there at all because he couldn't read the signs
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The ex was in the Air Force, stationed in Germany. He would go on and on about the Autobahn. Living in Germany was also why he had a thing about Porsche's. He could talk for days about them, all the different models, etc. On one of daughter's trips to Germany she went to a Porsche museum.
 
Decorating the bathrooms... oh, boy. But at least it'll get done, never got around to it yesterday, lol. :cool:

Already had a full watering session outside, no appreciable rain in 3 months and this coming week looks dry. :(

Maybe I'll start those 'Purple African Magic' seeds, no shortage of high desert sunshine in the boondocks. :rolleyes:
 
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